Gimme Shelter: 'No Kill' Has New Animal Center Straining

Like a rolling stone: A puppy at the Austin Animal Center shortly after its opening last year.

The Austin Animal Shelter, which opened last November, already has more animals than it can hold. The city says it’s taken in about 140 more pets than this time last year, and is adopting out fewer animals.

But why does the newly built Austin Animal Center have less space than the Town Lake Animal Center, the city’s former shelter?

City spokeswoman Patricia Fraga says when the Austin Animal Center was designed three years ago, organizers didn’t take into account that Austin would be a “no kill” city. “So, what’s happening now is we’re keeping animals longer,” Fraga says. “We’re not euthanizing animals for space, so we have animals that are living at the shelter longer than they would have previously.”

Austin implemented its “no kill” policy in March of 2010, after months of community debate. The new shelter broke ground in May of that year.

The city wants the community to help figure out how to handle the animals. Fraga says one option is setting up facilities throughout the city where animals could be housed temporarily. But a bond to build more shelter space is not on the table right now.

Some overflow pets are already being housed in a portion of the Town Lake Animal Center, which is being run by Austin Pets Alive. The city council will vote May 24 on whether to give APA use of the entire Town Lake site.

In related news, the Town Lake Animal Center suffered a break-in this weekend.

Burglars broke in to the building Sunday morning and stole hundreds of dollars in donations from Austin Pets Alive.

The organization says since news of the burglary became public, many people have come forward to make up for the stolen cash.

At last update, Austin Police did not have any suspects in the burglary.

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The new Austin Animal Center, opened only in November 2011, is already well over capacity. And the city is asking for your input on what to do now. While the new center has helped with the citys no kill goals maintaining a 90 percent live outcomes rate for pets that pass through the shelter its straining. And its not just seasonal, city officials say. Since April the animal intakes at the city shelter are not leveling off and the Animal Services Office can not keep up with the high number of intakes versus those animals that are being adopted or rescued by the Citys partner animal rescue groups, city officials write in a press release.

Today the Austin City Council will consider changes to a temporary lease agreement with Austin Pets Alive. Austin Pets Alive has been using a portion of the Town Lake Animal Center since the city shelter moved five miles east to the Austin Animal Center, and now the nonprofit wants to operate out of the entire building. Also on the agenda at todays work session , beginning at 9 a.m., is a resolution that would establish an advisory task force on drawing geographical districts for city council elections. The proposal is similar to what was proposed by the citys Charter Revision Committee.